I’m probably overcomplicating things, but I’m currently using an Eurorack setup that features two Radio Music modules playing field recordings alongside various sound loops. I can easily pitch the loops up and down, and once I’m satisfied with how they interact, I hit record. It’s a fun and immediate way to create electroacoustic music.
However, I could probably achieve similar results with a standalone sample player.
The main reason I prefer my current setup is that I want to manipulate the loops without retriggering them, a limitation I’ve encountered with most standalone samplers I’ve owned. Is there a desktop sampler available that offers this capability, perhaps one that can be controlled with an external MIDI controller? It needs to be relatively small, as I want something I can perform with.
This is not a complete answer to your question at all, but a lot of samplers respond to Pitch Bend to change the pitch (and playback speed) of a playing sample without retriggering it. Are you looking for “real” pitch shift without the playback speed change?
And, since this is Elektronauts, have you tried an Octatrack?
The obvious suggestion- a used Digitakt 1 since they’re absolute peanuts right now and you get so much more if you want to dive further in. But, also very simple to configure. When I get a chance I’ll be copying some recent field recordings over to manipulate.
The 1010 Blackbox is another option.
The other obvious suggestion, depending on how minimal you need, have you considered just an iPad? You could also perhaps use a phone with midi controller knobs, but that’s getting into a little too many things to have on a tabletop.
I’m not 100% on the requirements for “manipulation” but the Roland SP-404 MKII seems to fit the bill. Stereo, 16-mins per pad, various loop and gate behaviours, plus some delicious effects. It has vinyl mode for changing speed and pitch together or a vari-mode to separate the two.
I’ve bitched and moaned about mine today, and there is a lot to be annoyed about when talking about a 404 MK2, but asynchronous looping with longer samples is one of the things it does really well.
I tried the Octatrack for a completely different project ages ago. I might consider getting one but it seems a bit overkill for just playing a couple of loops.
